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Volume 94 | Issue 23
Stormy 76° / 58°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
‘Green’ week events aim to educate UNT Author, reporters discuss mining practices BY MELISSA BOUGHTON Senior Staff Writer
Students, faculty and staff gathered Monday for a screening of the film “Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars” and to hear a panel discussion about the book “Big Coal.” Leading the panel discussion was author Jeff Goodell along with Mark Donald, news editor of the Dallas Observer, Byron Harris, senior reporter for the WFAA-TV, and Randy Loftis, an environmental writer for the Dallas Morning News. George Getschow of the journalism faculty moderated the discussion, which lasted almost two hours. The film “Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars” is a documentary following the story of Texans fighting for clean air. The film follows mayors, ranchers, company executives, community groups, legislators, and other influential citizens that have come together to oppose the construction of 19 coal-fired power plants scheduled to be built in Eastern and Central Texas. “I am really interested in the energy debate and I think it’s a really important issue,” Erin Waters, a journalism senior, said. The panel discussion opened with some history about how much coal Americans use daily and how the book “Big Coal”
connects energy users with the coal industry. Getschow said Goodell used to go to book signings with a 20-pound bag of coal to show readers how much coal a day they used. Each panelist asked a direct question to Goodell during the discussion about his book and research on the coal industry. The first question, from Loftis, asked Goodell why there has not been mass movement to stop the usage of coal. “I don’t know why. I think that it’s obviously complicated. I think that people are profoundly ignorant about where their electricity comes from,” Goodell said. “I think that it’s not altogether clear that they care much about some of the things I talk about in the book.” The book, “Big Coal,” which is part of UNT’s program One Book, One Community, is about the role that coal plays in America and around the world. The book highlights problems with coal on health, the environment and communities. Goodell said he hopes the panel discussion helped increase awareness of where electricity comes from and what the costs are. “There is no such thing as cheap energy anymore —- that’s an old idea that is not part of the 21st century,” he said. “Electricity is going to get more and more expensive.” Goodell will also host a lecture titled America’s Energy Future today at 8 p.m. in the Gateway Ballroom at UNT.
PHOTO BY MELISSA BOUGHTON / PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff Goodell, author of Big Coal, answers questions during a Monday panel discussion about the book “Big Coal.” The event was part of UNT’s Sustainability Week, which runs from Oct. 5 5o Oct. 9.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CLINTON LYNCH / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
As part of Sustainability Week at UNT, Chris Rogers, an undecided freshman, recycles plastics outside of Bruce Hall on Monday afternoon.
UNT events focus on sustainability BY T.S. MCBRIDE
Contributing Writer The Office of Sustainability is work ing toward raising awareness of environmental and social topics with five days devoted to the cause this week. UNT Sustainability Week, which runs from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9, will include events such as a lecture from Jeff Goodell, author of “Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future” and a lecture from UNT alumna Charlee Tidrick on mou nta i ntop remova l mining. On Fr iday, Tidr ick w i l l discuss mountaintop removal mining from 1 p.m. to 2:30 pm in the Silver Eagle Suite of the University Union. Mountaintop mining is a form of strip mining. Forests are clear-cut from the mountaintop, and then explosives are used to blow the top off the mountain.
The explosives can damage the foundations of people’s homes near the mine, and the waste from the process is dumped into valley fills, which can block mountain streams. “Every step of this process has detrimental effects on the people in the nearby communities,” Tidrick said. She said she hopes to make people aware of where their energy comes from and at what cost. “I hope to inspire at least a handful of people to do more,” Tidrick said. “I will be telling them about opportunities to get involved either by travelling to the region or remaining in Texas.” The week will also include a Wednesday screening in the Bruce Hall Concert Hall of “Invisible Children”, a movie about child soldiers in Africa. Cameron Tharp, assistant to the director of the Office of Sustainability created the idea of Sustainability Week on campus and organized the week’s activities. “Sustainability is kind of an all-encompassing term. It has grown to have a broader
meaning,” Tharp said. “There’s social and economic aspects to it as well.” Children who are raised as soldiers do not learn to live a sustainable lifestyle, making
Erin Piper, clerical assistant at Bruce Hall, said the program has been a success. “People are definitely using it,” she said, referring to the blue plastic waste bin located
“Sustainability is kind of an allencompassing term. It has grown to have a broader meaning.”
—Cameron Tharp Assistant director of the Office of Sustainability
development in some areas impossible, Tharp said. T houg h no event w a s planned for Monday, f lyers were given on campus to remind students about the new single stream waste bins located near dorms. The bins were provided by the City of Denton and are different from most recycling bins in that waste does not need to be sorted. “Maybe it w ill motivate people to be aware and start recycling if it’s more convenient,” Tharp said.
behind Bruce Hall. “People come to me a l l t he t ime and ask, ‘Where’s the single stream?’” Kodey Boren, a radio, television and film freshman, said not having to sort waste made the bins more useful. “That’s a reason a lot of people don’t recycle, because it’s a hassle and people are lazy.” St udent s i nterested i n learning more can also find a Sustainability Week table from 10 :30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday on the Library Mall.
Act requires graphic photos on cigarette packaging BY GRACIELA R AZO Senior Staff Writer
The Surgeon General’s Warning on the sides of cigarette boxes will no longer be the only warning to consumers about the hazards of smoking. President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act on June 22, stating that 50 percent of the front and back of cigarette packages must be covered with graphic, color photos showing the risks of smoking. The bill “requires tobacco manufacturers to disclose toxicological, behavioral or physiologic effects of tobacco products” to be printed in addition to the Surgeon General’s Warning, enacted in the late 1960s. The warnings on cigarette packaging are statements reading, “Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and may complicate pregnancy” as
well as “Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide.” In addition to full color photos, slogans in larger fonts will also be printed on packages. Roy Busby of the journalism faculty said the Surgeon General’s Warning is in the “least important position” in most cases on cigarette advertisements and packages. “By making the warnings more graphically on the package, consumers are more likely to see it,” Busby said. However, the new cigarette boxes will most likely not faze people who already smoke when they take effect in 2011, Busby said. “If people are going to smoke and want to smoke, they will buy the package and already know the bad parts of it,” Busby said. “Ultimately, it depends on each individual though.” Busby said even though graphic
photographs will probably leave frequent smokers neutral on the new act, they may act as motivation for others to convince loved ones to quit. Non-smokers will be the people who react the most strongly to the new packaging, Busby predicted. “Others will probably use it to supplement their beliefs. It may be a secondary effect for friends and family of smokers rather than the individual,” Busby said. More successful methods of warning against the hazards of smoking in an advertising sense are statistics and advertising lawsuits against tobacco companies, he said. Brittany McMurry, a sociology sophomore has been a smoker for almost five years, but said the act wouldn’t bother her smoking habits. “The pictures are really gross, but we know the repercussions of
PHOTO BY JOSIAH SORRELS / INTERN
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, signed into law June 22, will enact stronger laws to control smoking. Warnings will comprise the top 50 percent of tobacco product packaging, with accompanying graphics depicting the health effects of tobacco. it, and I don’t think it’ll change the minds of smokers,” McMurry said. “Maybe it’ll change the minds of young non-smokers though.” McMurry said she was shown graphic photos of the effects of smoking when she was younger, and they didn’t stop her from
picking up the habit. M.J. Raymond, a junior political science major, lived in England where similar laws have already been enacted controlling cigarette packaging. She said the photos didn’t bother her then and won’t influence her now.
“I don’t think it will effect people who smoke, but it may deter people who don’t smoke from starting,” Raymond said. “I think when you’re younger, things like that do scare you, so I think it will work for kids to not start smoking.”